U.s. Denies Zollar Request

Bid To Postpone Mayor Election Turned Down

April 01, 1989|By Robert Davis and A. Dahleen Glanton.

The U.S. Justice Department Friday politely turned down a request from the embattled chairman of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to seek a court order postponing Tuesday`s mayoral election.

At the end of a whirlwind day that included a trip to Washington by Chairman Nikki Zollar seeking federal intervention, Deborah Burstion-Wade, deputy director of public affairs, said: ``The Justice Department did not find sufficient grounds to take steps in court to postpone the election.``

She said U.S. Atty. Anton Valukas had been told to assign about 60 prosecutors to monitor Election Day activities, an apparent formality since such assignments are routine for all elections.

The heated division within the board, which oversees the election process, began Wednesday when the other two board members, Republican Raymond Jagielski and Democrat Michael Hamblet voted to strip Zollar of all unilateral hiring and firing powers.

They contended Zollar, also a Democrat, had embarked on a hiring-and-firing binge since she took over as chairman several weeks ago in an attempt to create her own patronage army. Zollar countercharged that the other board members acted to preserve past patronage policies.

The action requires that all hirings, firings, transfers and promotions be approved by a majority of the three-member board.

In her futile pursuit of federal action in the controversy, Zollar met Friday with James Turner, head of the Justice Department`s civil rights division. She sought his support in overturning the action of the board majority and, perhaps, in trying to legally stop Tuesday`s mayoral election unless her powers are reinstated.

She was accompanied by U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D., Mich.) and Jesse Jackson Jr., son of Jesse Jackson, who is spearheading the election campaign of third party mayoral candidate Ald. Timothy Evans (4th).

Zollar said she told Turner that the board`s action violated the state Open Meetings Act and, because the action was taken so close to next week`s mayoral contest, it had created deep suspicions among city voters.

``I expressed concern that the voting machinery is about to fall apart,`` Zollar said after returning from Washington.

``This is going to be a great election, and for her to go out and say otherwise means that she is a complete and an absolute liar,`` countered Jagielski, who recently had forged an alliance with Zollar under which she would serve as chairman for six months and then turn the post over to him.

Hamblet called Zollar`s assertions ``ridiculous.``

Evans said Friday that additional security is needed for Tuesday`s election.

``I think the integrity of the voting process is at risk. We need the advice, counsel and protection of the federal government,`` Evans said.

``The whole thing is madness, especially coming just three or four days before the election, and it`s obvious that it comes from the Daley-Thompson group,`` Vrdolyak said after touring West Side Preparatory School, headed by Marva Collins.

During a television show taping Friday, Daley said he not only had nothing to do with the unexpected power transfer but in the past has supported Zollar`s actions.

``Some people tried to infer it was political. But at the press conference she said . . . we never had anything to do with it,`` said Daley, referring to Zollar`s comments at a rally Thursday in which she refused to link Daley to the coup.

Others, however, such as Jackson, have directly blamed Daley backers for the action, and Evans has made the Zollar affair a feature of his campaign speeches, urging supporters to be cautious on election day to prevent vote theft or deception at the polls.

Meanwhile Friday, Evans campaigned in West Side Chicago Housing Authority developments, including Henry Horner Homes where he was showered with rocks during a walk on Thursday.

``We are not afraid. We`re here and we are going to walk in this community and demand that residents in this community receive respect,`` Evans said as he walked the apartment grounds, shielded by police officers.

Evans, who has called for stricter punishment of drug dealers and gang members, said Daley, as state`s attorney, has shown a lack of leadership and concern in fighting the crime that plagues CHA residents.

Daley, who has contended the city could balance its budget by collecting millions of dollars in overdue bills and fines, said he would enlist the aid of aldermen in collecting overdue water bills. He said he`d also ask aldermen to run voluntary cleanup programs.